Ashton: [Meetings all day. Exhausted.]
Skyline would’ve been late afternoon by now.
If he was still stuck in boardrooms, he wasn’t exaggerating.
I replied: [I’m just heading to work now]
I angled my phone and snapped a photo of the street through the car window.
He took a while to respond.
Ashton: [Nice view out here.]
Ashton: [That window’s tinted. Looks aftermarket. That’s not a taxi. Whose car are you in?]
Me: [Fabrizio’s. He’s giving me a lift to Valmont’s headquarters.]
Ashton: [Stay away from him!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!]
The row of exclamation marks made my eyes twitch.
Me: [He’s just giving me a ride. Stop freaking out.]
Ashton: [If he were just a colleague, he wouldn’t be chauffeuring you around.]
Me: [He said it was on his way. Chill.]
The car rolled to a stop at a red light.
Fabrizio glanced over.
‘Who’s got you smiling at your phone?’
I hadn’t realised I’d been smiling.
‘I was texting my husband. He wasn’t thrilled about me coming to France alone.’
‘Ah.’ Fabrizio smiled faintly. ‘You and Mr Laurent seem close. When we met in Sunset City, you two didn’t seem anything like the gossip made you out to be.’
I shrugged. ‘People say a lot of crap online. We don’t listen to it.’
The light turned green.
He hit the accelerator.
The car surged forward, then slowed again at a junction.
‘I’ve worked non-stop since I was twenty. Now I’m thirty-six, and I’ve never had a proper relationship. Seeing the two of you makes me think I missed something.’
Fabrizio caught my surprise and gave a short laugh. ‘It wasn’t easy getting where I am. I had to put everything into work. If this new launch goes well, I might finally get a break.’
‘It’ll go well,’ I said.
He glanced at me, half-smiling. ‘Someone like you must have brilliant friends. If there’s anyone you think might suit me, feel free to set me up.’
‘Sure,’ I replied automatically.
Yvaine popped into my head, but the mental image of Cade hearing about that match-up made my shoulders tighten.
He’d drive straight through customs with a baseball bat.
My spine prickled just thinking about it.
The conversation thinned out.
I turned my phone screen back on and immediately flinched.
Ashton had flooded my inbox with full paragraphs, dozens of them.
The top was nowhere in sight.
I hadn’t even started reading when my phone rang.
‘Honeeey!’ His voice blasted through the speaker, deliberately loud.
Yep, Fabrizio had turned his head, lips twitching.
I gave him an apologetic shrug and covered the mic.
‘I’m not deaf. Stop shouting.’
‘Why haven’t you replied to my texts?’
‘I just saw them. I was about to.’
‘Oh, I see,’ Ashton was still talking loudly. ‘Paris is full of creeps. You should be careful.’
That wasn’t even subtle.
He might as well have said Fabrizio’s name with a siren on top.
Before I could steer the conversation elsewhere, Fabrizio leaned slightly toward my phone and spoke clearly, voice pitched for maximum reach. ‘Hello, Mr Laurent. Fabrizio Marchetti here. Your wife is in my car. Very safe. If it makes you feel better, I can drive her around for the rest of her stay.’
Ashton didn’t answer.
I cleared my throat. ‘That’s not necessary. I just didn’t know the area yet. I’ll take the metro tomorrow.’
A beat, then Ashton forced out, ‘Right. Yes. Paris is... perfectly safe.’
He started to speak again, but Fabrizio cut in smoothly. ‘Miss Vance, we’ve arrived.’
Ashton’s voice rose again. ‘Why’s he still calling you Miss? You are my wife.’
The car pulled into a private lot in front of Valmont & Cie’s headquarters.
The building was enormous.
Pale stone, sharp lines, the whole thing stretched so far up it made my jaw ache.
‘Damn,’ I muttered under my breath.
I’d read articles, seen the stock tickers and glossy photos.
But standing in front of it, I finally understood the scale.
I said into the phone, ‘I’m here. I’ll call you later if I get a second.’
My first day at Valmont & Cie went so well that I’d lost all track of time.
After dinner with several new colleagues, Fabrizio drove me back to the house despite my insistence that he didn’t need to.
I’d just stepped out of the shower when Ashton’s video call lit up my screen.
I propped myself against the headboard and held the phone to my face. The source of thɪs content is novel fire.net
My hair was still damp from the shower, twisted into a loose knot with strands falling around my ears.
I’d thrown on a plain white T-shirt.
He was lying in bed too, face slack with sleep.
‘It’s past midnight there,’ I said. ‘Why aren’t you asleep?’
He yawned. ‘Was waiting for you to finish. Move closer to the camera. Let me see your face.’
I dragged the phone an inch from my face. ‘I’ve only been here two days. You talk like it’s been two years.’
‘How was your first day?’
‘Amazing. The company’s huge. They gave me a private office.’
I knew what he was fishing for, but didn’t rise to the bait.
‘Everyone’s been really accommodating. I asked for an extra monitor and someone brought it in before I finished the sentence. Honestly, it’s a very decent setup. I could get used to it.’
He sat upright. ‘You planning to stay there permanently?’
I smiled. ‘Maybe. Might stick around until the new collection drops.’
‘No way! You said one week. One. Now you’re talking about six months?’
‘That’s it. I’m flying to France in three days and dragging you home myself.’
‘Relax. I was only kidding. You don’t have to come. I’ll be back soon.’
He gave a short grunt. ‘I’m coming anyway.’
Then he circled back. ‘That Marchetti isn’t all over you, is he?’